Charlie Gonzalez, CG Moving Co. CEO and I had the opportunity to attend the American Trucking and Storage Associations-Moving and Storage Conference “Call On Washington” last week.
Huge thanks to ATA’s staff (Ryan Bowley, Danielle Hahami, Jon Samson and so many others!) for organizing the three day event, and for bringing presenters with relevant and hot topics for our industry. One of the most in depth presentations, the “Rogue Operator Summit”, was led by California Moving and Storage President Steve Weitekamp. We also attended presentations by representatives from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), an Economics Panel Discussion with economists from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Multifamily Council, other law enforcement representatives and consumer protection/advocacy non profit AARP . We even got to hear from a representative from the National Crime Prevention Council, Check him out in TikTok @mcgruffncpc
Also, check out our CG Moving Co. TikTok for more pictures from our visit.
@cgmovingco ATA Moving and Storage Conference “Call On Washington” 2022 #ATA #ATAMembers #cgmovingcompany #bayarea #SmartSafeProfessionalMoves #🚛 #sf #colma #sacramento #ssf ♬ Are You Entertained (Feat. Ed Sheeran) – Russ & Ed Sheeran
The three day event culminated in meetings with representatives or their legislative assistants, from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. There, we brought our stories of how current or upcoming legislation affects our industry and consumers. If you are an industry insider, you already know what is in our radar: Rogue operators who defraud consumers, sometimes taking the shipper’s property hostage, and demanding double or triple the original price quoted. Protecting the Independent Contractor model nationwide, which as you know if you are in California, has been subject to AB5 law since 2020, with some carved out exemptions. Nationally, ICs in the trucking industry exceed 350,000 as owner-operators. There is a 33 page research study conducted in 2021 by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) Research Advisory Committee (RAC) which does an excellent job in noting the potential impact of federal law changes to the IC/OO model.
Lastly, we also brought up the need for standardization in the access to military bases. Movers perform more than 312,000 (3 year average) moves for the DOD on an annual basis, but too often, drivers and laborers are presented with differing guidance in terms of acceptable identification or clearance.
If you are a mover or work in an industry that supports/sells products or services to movers, you need to get involved! There are many opportunities to participate in the ATA-MSC meetings and advocacy, education and training is available to members. More importantly, you get to meet really great people who care about the consumers we serve and have pride in the essential services we provide! By the way, the next big event for the ATA is the Management Conference and Exhibition, which will be held in beautiful San Diego, California October 22-25, 2022 Follow this link to learn more: https://mce.trucking.org/
